T.M. Krishna's concert on December 6, 2008 was an exciting beginning for the Margazhi music season of Brahma Gana Sabha. T.M.Krishna gave a rather luxurious and yet a controlled performance on this evening. When an artiste enjoys and glorifies the music with clear diction and expression, the audience too is able to relish every bit of it.

This is a key to any good music. And, Krishna was able to strike a neat rapport with the audience with his zestful music.

He gave expression to the lyrics of saint composer Narayana Tirtha's "Saranam Bhava Karuna Mayi Kuru Dinadayalo"(Saurastram) with quite a melody, lavishing it with swaras.

The slow-paced Varali kriti of Dikshitar "Mamava Meenakshi" (Varali) was rendered beautifully. The kriti with attractive lyrics was a thoughtful choice as the audience enjoyed the piece, as Krishna brought out the innate beauty of the lyrics with his rich voice. Raga Sahana was given an expansive treatment. He kept it simple and elegant. He explored the raga with his inimitable style. As he sang the Thyagaraja kriti "E Vasuda Ni Vanti", the two tambura artistes on stage joined him intermittently. He chiseled the kriti with slow and charming swaras and enriched it with just adequate sangatis. Krishna was unhurried in his approach. A brisk Vivardini piece of Tyagaraja "Vinave O Manasa" was quite enjoyable. Shyama Sastri's "Durusukha" came next. This was preceded by an incredible alapana in Saveri. In between the alap, the power went off. It was completely dark. But the audience could hear Krishna continue his alap. He took the line "Paramapavani Krupavani Vinuta Pada Saroja Pranatharthi Haru Raanee" for the niraval. Well. It was a long and a breathless exercise, one must say. This kriti was quite a vibrant one with high voltage swaras and a difficult one compared to the Sahana kriti, which was quite supple. Manoj Shiva on Mridangam gave a good support and held a complete sway over his instrument. Aniruth Athreya on Kanjira was impressive. RTP (Ragam Tanam Pallavi) came as a bonus to the discerning rasikas. Krishna took rakti raga Suruti for RTP. His tanam rendering was simply brilliant. An occasional reminiscence of his guru Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer cannot escape the rasikas as Krishna rendered tanam. Violinist H.K.Venkatraman did a splendid job, as he followed Krishna well. Krishna selected a pallavi "Ten Pazani Vadivelane Ore Arumugane Shanmugane" set to tisra jati triputa tala in two kalai. He shifted to ragas Kalyani and Sindhibhairavi before finishing the creative exercise in raga Suruti. It was crisp but a remarkable one. "Shanthi Nilava Vendum" in Tilang was sung with dedicated involvement. It could not have been more appropriate for the day, i.e. December 6. The message of peace and harmony was well communicated. Krishna then took up a Javali of Dharmapuri Subbaraya "Parulanna Mata" in Kapi. He signed off the evening with a Divya Prabandandam "Selliya" and a Gopalakrishna Bharathi composition "Irakkam Varamal Ponaden" in Bihag.